Why President Obama should have Georgia on his mind

Unlike presidents Bush and Clinton, there's one potentially controversial issue in the United States that has yet to seriously trouble President Obama – the death penalty. That could be about to change.

A death row prisoner with a particularly strong claim that he was wrongly convicted could be just weeks away from execution. Would the president stand by and let that happen? It might be difficult for him if he did. Here's why.

The case in question is that of Troy Davis, a 40-year-old man who has been on death row in the state of Georgia since 1991. On Saturday his "stay" of execution was lifted leaving it open to state officials to set an execution date. It won't be his first. Last September he was just two hours from a lethal injection until, at the eleventh (tenth?) hour, the Supreme Court stepped in and the execution was halted.

Executing an innocent man could haunt Obama's presidency.

So, why should this concern a popular president, burrowing through an enormous in-tray 500 miles away in Washington? Well, on the one hand Barack Obama is unambiguously pro-death penalty in what he calls the "most egregious" or especially "heinous" crimes. Last year he disagreed with a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed the execution of child rapists receiving death sentences and he's said he'd want Bin Laden executed. Okay, so far so what? This is no different from most mainstream politicians in pro-death penalty USA.

But, Obama is also heavily associated with Illinois where, as he delicately puts it, they "had some problems … in the application of the death penalty". In fact, the problems included the then Governor George Ryan being confronted with the fact that during his governorship more death row prisoners had been released from prison on the grounds of innocence than had been put to death. Death row was running at "a loss". As a lawmaker in Illinois Obama helped introduce new measures for videotaping police interviews and he says he's "proud" of his role in "overhauling a death penalty system that was broken".

Actually I'd say Obama's underplaying/finessing this. Governor Ryan imposed a complete moratorium on capital punishment and in 2003 commuted every single death sentence against all 167 prisoners languishing on the 'row. A bit more than an "overhaul".

Obama the presidential candidate later ostensibly "toughened up" – just like Bill Clinton, who went out of his way to appear tough even when it meant signing the death warrant of a brain-damaged inmate during his 1992 run for the White House. But still – Obama has the Illinois overhaul in his back catalogue. He's made it clear that he's worried about capital punishment where there's a risk of error. Which takes me back to Troy Davis.

Troy Davis is only one out of more than 3,200-odd inmates on death row in the USA but he has a stronger claim to be wrongly convicted than most. Davis was convicted of the murder of Mark Allen MacPhail, a police officer, but there has never been any physical evidence linking him to the killing. The prosecution relied entirely on witnesses and informant testimony for their conviction. Since the trial most of the testimonies have unravelled. No less than nine witnesses and informants have given formal affidavits saying they were pressured into making false statements at the time of the investigation. Some of them have implicated another man who was never investigated by the police.

In short, if there was a fresh trial or evidentiary hearing now it's unimaginable that Davis would end up on death row. Yet, as any US attorney will tell you, it's very hard to get fresh evidence in capital cases heard, even though it's literally a matter of life of death.

Again, though, why should this concern Mr Obama? Well, while it's formally a matter for the courts and then, in the last stages, for the state governor, Sonny Perdue, it could come to haunt Obama if an innocent man goes to his death during his presidency.

If Troy Davis does end up with another execution date in the coming weeks I'd definitely recommend that President Obama ensure he has Georgia on his mind.